


Family vs. Duty

by ninetiesnecklace



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternative Scene, Couch Cuddles, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s01e18 Loa Aloha (The Long Goodbye), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 08:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9991673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninetiesnecklace/pseuds/ninetiesnecklace
Summary: "No word from Danny since he had driven off to find Matt and frankly, Steve worried."Alternative ending to season 1 episode 18.Matt is gone and Danny drives to see Steve instead of Rachel.





	

**Author's Note:**

> *Someone* made me watch Hawaii 5-0 and now I'm in McDanno hell.

Steve let himself fall onto his couch with a sigh and a bottle of beer in hand. His hair was still damp from the shower and his bare feet left wet prints on the floor; the swim had felt good and now, dressed in a clean pair of cargo pants and a blue v-neck shirt, he finally found a moment to try and unwind. His right fumbled for the remote control under the cushions, changing the channels until he found some baseball game that provided exactly the amount of white noise he was looking for.

He took a sip of his beer and mindlessly stared at the screen as his thoughts returned to Danny. It had been a hellish day for him. Finding out that his little brother had been caught up with some very unsavoury characters was a bitter pill to swallow – especially the fact that he had tried to run. Steve frowned slightly. He hadn’t heard from Danny since he had driven off to find Matt and frankly, he worried. Family versus duty was never an easy call to make and Steve knew a thing or two about that. All these unanswered questions his father had left him with, the fear for his sister when she was kidnapped, hell, their coup to steal – borrow – ten million dollars to buy Chin free from that bomb collar… Steve knew where he stood on the matter but still there was no one-fits-all solution. And he was the last person to judge. No, at the end of the day it all came down to the situation, to strong ties and loose ends.

He hadn’t known Matt before but during the meal with him, Rachel and Grace he had seen a new side to Danny – he was relaxed, at ease with himself and enjoying the time spent with his family. How openly he laughed from the heart at old pranks between brothers, grabbed Steve’s arm affectionately and even shared a few friendly glances with Rachel. And it was down to Matt that it has been that harmonious.

The look of utter incredulity on Danny’s face when the feds had accused Matt was nothing Steve had seen before on him. Nor had he known how much Matt had helped him through the divorce, the words stumbling out of Danny as his eyes implored Steve to believe his brother’s innocence until proven otherwise.

Steve stroked through his face and put the bottle to his lips again. Family or duty. Whichever Danny picked he’d have his back.

The monotone murmur of the TV filling the living room was interrupted by four short knocks on the door and when Steve looked up Danny was standing on the threshold.

“Danny…” Steve’s heart beat heavily as he sat up, taking in the sudden appearance of his partner.

Danny gave him the ghost of a smile that didn’t even reach the corners of his mouth. His white shirt looked slightly creased, the red tie crooked, and his face showed an utterly bleak expression. Hands shoved deeply into the pockets of his slacks he stood there under Steve’s gaze, looking lost as can be.

“He’s gone,” Danny said, shifting his weight uneasily. A deep breath and a shake of his head. “Mattie’s gone.”

 _Shit_. In one fluent move Steve put the bottle on the table and stood up, covering the distance between him and his partner in three large steps and pulled him into a hug. One arm thrown across his shoulder, the other around his chest, and Steve took a small sidestep as he suddenly supported almost all of Danny’s weight.

“I’m sorry,” Steve murmured and leaned further down into the hug, Danny’s head coming to rest in the crook of his neck. His partner clung to him like a life buoy. Every inch of the broad chest pressed against Steve’s frame, his hands holding on to him with force. A gush of breath hit Steve’s ear when Danny breathed out shakily and Steve’s right slid into his neck, along the collar of his shirt and gently stroking the skin with his thumb.

Danny nodded against his throat and tapped on his shoulder twice before pulling free – Steve’s hands remained on Danny’s upper arms as he looked at him, trying to see past the paleness and the tired eyes. Yet Danny simply bit his lip and shook his head.

“Sit down, come on,” Steve said and guided Danny further into the living area of his house; one hug did not fix whatever had happened. His hand didn’t leave Danny’s shoulder blade until he pushed him gently onto the couch, the leather creaking when his partner let himself fall down.

Steve grabbed the remote and turned off the TV before sitting down to Danny’s left. He sat there just as he had put him – impassive, leaning against the back rest with his legs spread and his hands resting on his thighs. He stared at an undetermined point in front of him and something in Steve’s chest tightened at the sight.

“I lost Mattie.” Danny’s voice was flat. 

“What happened?” Steve asked.

For a moment, neither men spoke and only the distant sound of the rushing waves filled the living room. Then, Danny sighed deeply and looked at Steve.

“I told him I was gonna help him. Get him through it,” he said and as soon as the first syllable made it over his lips Steve saw a hint of energy in Danny’s posture. _Good_. Anger was preferable to apathy, especially when it came to Danny.

“I’d always come back for him, _always_.” Danny breathed out in a short huff and leaned forward, his elbows placed on his knees. “This time would have been no different.”

“And Matt knows that,” Steve said, following his motion and mirroring his stance. “He doesn’t doubt you, Danny, not his big brother.”

Danny pressed his lips together as he looked at him again. “Then why did he run? He said he wasn’t strong enough to go to prison but now – now he’ll be afraid every damned day that someone knocks on his door, or kicks it in for that matter, and…”

“You did what you could do, offer help,” Steve said and leaned closer to Danny, fixing him firmly with his eyes. “You can’t make him accept it.”

“I know that,” Danny retorted. An edge of desperation sneaked into his voice. “But running away - I mean, what he’s doing to our parents, to himself, to Gracie. That’s just… I can’t wrap my head around it.”

His nostrils flared and he licked his lips, shaking his head as the he propped up his arm and ran his hand through his face. Steve simply looked at him while his mind tried to come up with another lie to get Matt out of the situation he had manoeuvred himself into, with a way to contact him, to convince him to take Danny’s advice. But there was nothing either he or Danny could do for Matt now, from what it appeared – not if he had left, one-way ticket out of their influence and to wherever. Steve’s right reached out and moved soothingly across Danny’s back, long and slow strokes along the tense shoulders of his partner.

“He’s gone for good, Steve,” Danny said in a hollow voice, as if he had read his mind, and Steve saw the energy leave his partner as abruptly as it had arrived.

“C’mere,” Steve said and tightened his grip on Danny’s shoulder, gently pulling him back against him. Danny followed his lead and when Steve let the two of them fall against the back rest of the couch he turned in his touch, coming to rest on Steve’s chest with his hands on his waist. Steve wrapped his arms around him again, hoping that it felt as reassuring to Danny as Danny’s weight was for him.

They lay like this for a while, silent and motionless. Steve’s right ran over Danny’s back, up to his neck and hairline and down again, and the routine of it seemed to work: Danny eased up by and by, the strained shoulders relaxing under his soothing caresses.

“Shoot me or say good-bye he said,” Danny spoke quietly, the sound muffled against Steve’s chest. “I couldn’t do either.”

Steve only saw a fraction of Danny’s eyes but knew how hurt they must look. “I get it,” he said quietly as his right continued to run over the thin fabric of Danny’s shirt. The warmth of his body, of both their bodies felt nice in the evening breeze coming in from the open lanai door of the house. Danny’s grip on him loosened slightly and soon his breathing fell into rhythm with Steve’s – even, measured, calming, like waves rolling onto the sand.

“And you…” Danny said after a while and turned his head slightly, catching Steve’s gaze.

“Yeah?” Steve’s hand stopped for a moment.

“You lied for my brother.” Danny looked at him openly with a hint of amazement playing around his mouth. “Without batting an eye.”

Steve drew his brows together and licked over his lips, quickly, before voicing what Danny surely knew.

“I didn’t lie for him, Danno,” he said, looking into his partner’s eyes earnestly. “I lied for you.”

A soft expression eased the lines in Danny’s face, a direct contrast to the sudden tension building in his jaw. “Thank you.”

Steve ran his fingers over his neck lightly and nodded. “Anytime.”

Danny settled back in on his chest and for a moment, Steve pressed his cheek to his partner’s head, the styled hair smooth against his skin. Danny sighed quietly and this time, it wasn’t a heavy sound. Matt may have chosen to say good-bye. But Steve and Danny, they never would. When it came to family versus duty their answer was clear. And family, Steve thought as he watched Danny dozing off on his chest, was a broad term.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
